


My Dads Are Telapathic and Ferrokinetic

by orphan_account



Category: X-Men
Genre: Anya you little shit, Charles also has issues, Charles in a Wheelchair, Erik has Issues, How Do I Tag, I suck at writing angst so yeah, I'll add more tags later maybe, M/M, My First Fanfic, Props for blue hair, Self Harm, Wow my title sucks, no judgey, um...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-08-19 09:26:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8200036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Charles is trying to get used to a wheel chair again when Erik and his daughter just show up out of nowhere and then everyone has fun!Random idea that my friend and I dreamed up one dayshout out to TheOneWhoSpillsWhiteRussiansOnHerself you know who you are love ya





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Running, she was running, shoes pounding the leaves beneath her feet. She glanced panickedly behind her, they were getting closer. She breathed raggedly turning forward, stumbling in her haste, but managing not to fall. She tried to call out with her mind to the forest around her but it was as if it was dead. She felt nothing; no one to help her face this invisible adversary. She didn’t know what she was running from, but it didn’t matter because she ran for her life. Suddenly, she felt a spike of hot pain in her chest. She looked down and saw the arrow tip. She saw the blood soaking her shirt. She lifted her head and screamed at the sky. Hundreds, thousands, of birds tunneled down from the sky surrounding her screaming right along with her, surrounding her and lifting her up.Her arms spread wide and her head tilted back mouth open as arrow after arrow pierced her sternum.  
Ollie’s eyes snapped open. She glanced around, moving only her eyes. The room was dark, she guessed it was probably around four am, the moon glinted through a sliver of ruffled curtain making a white line across two of the other three beds in the room lighting the fluffy blue carpet that was just another part of the room placed there to give the appearance of an inviting prison though it was just like one with bars. she closed her eyes again and breathed out then listened hard. Everyone else in the room appeared to be sleeping, there was very little movement and the lumps of covers rose and fell steadily, one of them literally hanging in the air the little boy curled up comfortably on thin air. Ollie smiled at his contented face and slowly, _slowly_ sat up leaning just so that her bed didn't creak and alert The Devil. She swung her legs over the side, stepping carefully around the squeaky spots in the floor, all of them mapped out in her head from years of practice. She made it to the mirror by the window, stopping for a moment she glanced in. She was met by a thin face with wide chocolate brown eyes and a long nose covered in a spattering of freckles, lit with pale moonlight and clad in her usual dark grey t-shirt and leggings. She looked like a ghost standing there. or would if it weren't for her shoulder-length red hair. It framed her face like an absurd red riding hood impression, and she glared at it angrily brushing it behind her ears, she needed to cut it again. She observed the window, locked with three bolts from the outside and covered with bars cleverly fashioned to look like lattice. Normally (and to everyone else in the room) the window was not a viable option for escape but this didn't daunt Ollie. First, just to for practice, she thrust out her hands at the window and using all her willpower, just managed to open one latch. She dropped her hands breathing hard but quietly. Next, she did something much easier, she closed her eyes. The boys told her that whenever she did this her eyes glowed green, so she tried to close them to avoid freaking them out by having a conversation with a squirrel outside the window. She collected herself and reached out with her mind into the city outside she encountered a few pigeons and a rather unfriendly squirrel, at first, but after reaching out farther she found who she was looking for.  
_Excuse me?_ she started politely _Could you help out a little girl? She's stuck in The Devil's house._  
_Oh no! she heard in reply Can't have that can we?_ this was their ritual, she asked Peregrine for help, and she acted surprised that Ollie was awake and wanted out of the house at four in the morning. She got a brief image through Peregrine's eyes, she was about a block away and would be here in about 45 seconds. She resurfaced leaving Peregrine's mind and blinking back into her bedroom. Smiling to herself she shrugged on her dark sweatshirt and pulled a pair of jean shorts on over her leggings. She did this quickly and silently, then dropped to her knees and out one ear against the floor. locking out all other noises, she borrowed Peregrine's hearing for a moment and listened to the fat man downstairs. The TV was still on, which was a good sign, and if she concentrated, she could hear the congested snoring, which meant he had probably fallen asleep with food in his mouth. Ollie wrinkled her nose when she heard him snort wetly and got up, letting go of Peregrine’s hearing and turning to the window when she heard a soft tap. This was Peregrine, who was perched on the lattice opening, the last of the bolts on the window and opening the lattice. Peregrine was a smart and powerful bird and the most kindly animal Ollie knew. Which was, in fact, saying a lot. Ollie was a mutant. That is what everyone told her when she found out not everyone could talk to animals. They also told her being mutant was bad, it was dangerous, it was shameful, and that she had to hide. So she did. Sometimes. Ollie cranked open the window and slipped through the gap she had made. Holding onto the drainage pipe outside she carefully closed and locked the window, after making sure her pile of pillows and blanket on her bed looked convincing, and the little squirrel she had convinced to sleep there till she got back made the blanket rise and fall with human-like rhythm.She swung around then, catching the gutter with the tips of her fingers and holding on to it with both hands, inched her way across the side of the building. Three stories above the ground.  
Ollie’s full name was Olivia Skylar Cayden well it wasn't really, but it was the name she preferred since her dad… No. Ollie shook her head. She wasn’t going there now. She had reached the end of the gutter, now came the hard part. She had fallen many times from this gutter and only her determination to not be trapped had kept her making up excuses for poorly disguised limps and bruises. By now though, she had made this jump a thousand times, swinging side to side she built momentum, letting go and twisting at the peak of her swing to land confidently on the roof of the next building. There she paused, crouched in the shadows and looked at the city.  
She lived in Warsaw, Poland, as she had for many years, since she was 8 in fact. Her parents were dead. She had no other family that wanted her, and so she was plunged into the Polish foster care system.  
She had lived in a number of different foster homes, all of them rejecting her after a set amount of time, but that had never really bothered her. She didn’t care what these people thought of her, most of the time she didn’t even bother to learn their names. Although she did map all available exits, their sleeping habits, where they kept the non perishable foods and potential weapons, it was a habit. Currently Henryk Zadinski was her “caretaker.”  
She also lived with three other mutants, all boys. Celestyn the youngest, floated when he wasn’t focusing on staying on the ground, Cezary, his older brother, had stringy blue hair that reached his waist. He used it like extra hands, he could make it do and look like whatever he wanted. He had just left a phase where his hair had been short and expertly flipped up and to the left, and was now experimenting with how long he could grow it without tripping on it, or eating it, or being tangled in it in the morning. Then there was Eiric, he could make anyone do anything just by thinking of them doing said thing, and thusly, had to be very careful. He was a year older than her, but was extremely shy and reserved about everything that he said. Ollie had asked him why he didn't use his powers to convince his foster-parents to do things before, like let him go to bed whenever he wanted, or eat junk food. His eyes got very wide and he had shaken his head vehemently not saying anything, but Ollie thought it might have something to do with the nights when she would find him rocking back and forth on his bed in the corner of the room, covering his ears and muttering “no, no, no” his pupils dilated beyond the span of a normal human being sheets, and pillows floating in lazy circles around his head.  
When she first met him, Ollie had hated him instantly, for reasons that probably aren't too hard to guess, but she just couldn't hate this kid. He was too sweet and too sincere about everything, and pretty soon she had adopted all three of the boys as her brothers. She protected them and mothered them, and they all trusted her to help them. It had taken a long time for her to start to like them, in the beginning she had despised Eiric but it had been little C who had first captured her heart, with his adorable mannerisms and pure emotions just a bit too wise beyond his 5 years. She was the one who had helped him start to sleep through the night again by convincing him that every night when The Devil went to sleep they could all be themselves, that it was okay to relax and float, and that she would wake him up before anyone noticed in the morning. Cezary was a bit jealous of her at first, for reasons unknown, but he had soon grown to grudgingly respect her, if not necessarily like her until about a month after her arrival. Now she didn’t think she could ever leave them, which was sad considering she would probably be rejected again soon anyway.  
Little C would cry but they would get better and forget her, people always do. She sighed and looked at Peregrine, perched patiently on her shoulder, waiting. _“Where to tonight, Ollie?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah i know the timing of this thing is crazy and convoluted don't judge i like it when Charles has hair XD  
> anyway this is my first fanfic I love reviews and suggestions so please tell me how i did leave kudos pls and i love you all!  
> -Anne  
> P.s. i promise Erik and Charles will actually be in the next chapter this one was just back ground  
> 


	2. Chapter 2

Charles sat on the huge Victorian era couch in his empty living room staring at the wall. The "x-men" as they called themselves, he still chuckled at that, weren't here. Although some students stayed year round, Jean and Scott had convinced him to let them take all the student willing to go (which was all of them) to the beach for a whole two months, while Charles got used to being in a wheelchair again. He looked a lot better than he had a few weeks ago, he'd gotten a haircut and it was smoothed back into its usual part. The bathrobe, that had been a staple dress item for months, was gone, replaced by his usual formal wear of suit in public and fluffy sweaters when he was lazy.  
He leaned back and sighed. He wasn’t actually sitting on the couch, he was sitting in front of it in a wheelchair. He had stopped taking the medication for his legs about a month earlier and was just beginning to get used to being in a wheelchair again. Hence the two month beach trip, while Charles re-learned how to take care of himself properly and do simple things like get dressed and make tea.  
Charles rolled forward in his wheelchair, moving towards the kitchen, only getting stuck on the rug for a moment before proceeding in to make tea. Of course the hadn't left him completely by himself, Jean was watching the outward layers of his consciousness for any unusual spikes of pain or anger, and she would warn Hank, who would first call Charles then, if he didn’t answer, look in on the house with a series of cameras, and they had a few friendly mutants who would stop by occasionally. Charles reached the counter and looked at the set of new buttons on the arm of his chair. Hank had made several new modifications to it and it now raised him up enough to use the various different amenities in the house, without having to move any of them down low enough for a wheelchair bound Charles to reach. The water was just starting to get warm when Charles heard the faint chime that alerted him to the presence of someone outside the door. Figuring it must be one of the neighbors come to better acquaint themselves with him he announced “Just a moment please.” and made his way to the front of the house, instinctively reaching out with his mind to feel for the person at the door. Curiously, he didn’t feel anyone at the door, but he did feel someone in a car outside the door. Thinking that the visitor was leaving, he started to reach farther into their mind to tell them to wait, when he realized the car wasn’t running. Charles frowned. Cautiously now he approached the door. Raising the chair up he peered through the peephole in the door, suddenly his eyes went wide and he backed the chair up opening the door suddenly and before him stood “Erik.”  
“Charles,” He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, a leather jacket and jeans that looked just a little overdressed for the warm September afternoon. He stood in that way that only he did, casual in the way that a lazy tiger watches its prey from a warm rock in the sun. Memories came flooding back to Charles, late night chess games, shared glances, silent conversations, laughter and playful banter, warmth, betrayal, a gunshot… Charles blinked, forcefully dragging his mind back to the present and looked at Erik again. Only his face portrayed any kind of distress, though his reflective sunglasses prevented Charles from seeing his eyes and that horrible, offending, helmet that he still wore all these years after the beach in Cuba, prevented Charles from seeing his mind. Damn he missed him. “Charles.” he said again after the pause had stretched out to long to be socially acceptable. “I need your help.” Charles was slightly taken aback by this. Raising an eyebrow and wondering what in the world could have caused Erik Lehnsherr to come to him for help. Not that he wasn’t fairly certain that if Erik ever actually needed help, he was the first person he would come to, but they were on kind of unstable terms at the moment. Sitting back in his chair and returning it to it’s normal height, he glanced around Erik to the 1964 Cadillac Sedan DeVille he had been driving since they traveled the country together looking for mutants. He saw a red haired teenage girl riding shotgun. She must have been the mind he had felt when they had first pulled up. Quickly running his proverbial fingers through her mind he came up with a name, and then, his eyes widened.  
“Erik?” he looked at his old friend, “Is that…”  
“Please, Charles,” Erik’s voice sounded desperate, he removed his glasses then (which looked like a complicated procedure with that damned helmet in the way), his eyes, once revealed, were wide with what, if Charles didn’t know any better, might have been panic. “I don’t know what to do.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------*------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Charles took a thoughtful sip of his steaming peppermint tea. The three of them now sat in Charles’ living room, cradling cups of tea that Erik had probably wanted and the girl (he was still puzzling over what to call her. For she appeared to have two names, and he didn’t want to pry without permission) had probably accepted out of chivalry. She looked uncomfortable in his large oriental living room, perched just on the edge of the sofa and glancing at the doors and windows, in the way he remembered Erik had done that meant he was picking out the best escape routes from the room, should he ever be attacked.  
She wore a simple outfit of blue jean shorts over grey leggings and a grey long sleeved shirt. Her shockingly red hair was pulled back into an immaculate ponytail and her grey/green eyes swept the room. Charles sent another raised eyebrow look Erik’s way, but he was pointedly looking at neither Charles nor the girl, Charles frowned. He cleared his throat. “Well then,” both of them turned their eyes on him at once, their HERC2 coloring so similar it was scary. “I believe and explanation is in order.” both of them looked away Charles twisted his lips and, out of force of habit, attempted to say to Erik through their old mental link Please talk to me. But he received only a cold metallic blankness that felt like a crushing blow. He twisted his lips and looked at the girl “I’m sorry what is your name?” She glanced up at him unimpressed  
“I thought you could read minds professor.”  
“Well,” said Charles “I can, but I prefer not to intrude on the sanctum of your mind to much without your permission, as it is an invasion of your privacy.” She looked at him incredulously. “Besides,” said Charles deciding to show off a tiny bit “you appear to have two.” She blanched, her face paling “W-what?” Charles raised an eyebrow. “Do I call you Ollie or-” he cut off suddenly, flinching at the sudden scream of;  
_STOP!!! DON’T SAY IT!!!!_ In his head.  
“Well there’s no need to shout.” He said raising two fingers to his temple _Why not?_  
_Umm…_ she hesitated unwilling to share the information _Touchy subject._  
_Fair enough. I will call you Ollie then?_  
_Yes please._ She sounded relieved _Thank you._  
_No problem._  
This girl obviously had some experience with mental communication, she was very good at speaking normally and not letting any trace thoughts leak through the connection. Charles wondered what her mutation was, deciding not to pry as she might notice.  
Erik watched this silent exchange with a confused expression “Well.” he said abruptly and both of their eyes snapped in his direction “We will need a place to stay for a bit, just until I can get somewhere else…” Charles could see just how much asking for help hurt Erik, who was always independent never needing anyone else. Until he had let himself get attached, Charles realized. He swallowed the bitter feeling that came from that thought, that was just a hair to close to jealousy, and said  
“Of course. The students are away for two months, but you two can stay for as long as you like.” he added quickly  
You don’t have to leave. He thought to Erik, but of course he didn’t hear him. Charles tried to ignore the horrible feeling, even worse than before, that crashed through him at this subtle rejection. “You can have your old room, Erik, if you’d like.” he said it like an invitation, a chance to make things slightly normal. Erik nodded and Charles smiled “And you can have the room on the third floor at the very end of the hallway. I don’t believe that one is being used currently. Do you have any luggage?” Ollie shook her head and stood “I’ll go look at my room.”  
“Okay,” Charles said and he and Erik watched her leave the room. When Charles felt her go upstairs he turned to face Erik, blue eyes boring into grey "Are you going to take that off?"  
"No."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay this one actually has Charles and Erik! So yeah um tell me how i did like i said before i've never done this before so yeah im so awkward leave kudos love you all! Props for Helmet!Erik and Sad!Charles  
> -Anne


	3. Chapter 3

Ollie left the room and immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief. The palpable tension between Erik (she still wouldn't call him dad) and Charles had been crushing her into the giant oriental (and probably hugely expensive) plush couch that she had been sitting on.  
She felt Charles’ mind slip away after she had climbed the first 10 steps of the wide curving wooden staircase that apparently led upstairs. Her hand caressed the smooth wood of the handrail as she peered out to the grounds of the huge house through one of the stained glass windows placed at different intervals on the stairs. Little C would have liked this window, he loved to pretend that whenever they left the house they had stepped into an alien world where everything was purple and pink, and mutants like them were common people, and everyone had flying cars... Ollie wiped her eyes trying not to think about the boys she had to leave behind in Poland. Before she had left she had taken Eiric aside and told him “Eiric you have to be the stability for Little C and Caesary now. Do anything you must to keep them safe. Anything.” She said in response to the sharp look he had given her; “Even your powers.” Backing up now she examined the window trying not to cry. There were no latches or visible means of exit except breaking which sucked because she hated broken glass. Backing up more she started up the stairs again. About 12 stairs and a landing later she realized the windows were pictures, particularly of what looked like battles. Ollie stopped, leaning forward she examined the window she was closest to with more interest for the window itself this time than how to remove it. There were small figures that appeared to be blue and red, rather than tan like the other people or shooting blasts of color or she leaned closer, was he… flying?  
Suddenly there was a huge crash downstairs. Ollie jumped as if she were a two year old caught with one hand in the cookie jar. She practically flew down the stairs and back into the living room and stood panting dumbfounded in the doorway. All thoughts of the boys flying from her mind.  
An angry looking Charles was glaring at Erik, not seeming to have noticed Ollie at all. Erik glared right back at him just as forcefully. Ollie took a step into the room, immediately stepping back into the doorway and holding her foot, swallowing her yelp of pain. She looked at the sole of her converse and saw a small hole, but her foot wasn't bleeding, so that was good She looked down then on the offending object on the carpet. It appeared to be a piece of metal and it wasn't just in the carpet, it was embedded in the carpet. She took a closer look around the room and saw it wasn't the only piece, the entire floor was covered in what appeared to be an exploded silver platter, the wall was impaled with various other shards of things and everything that wasn't exploded was vibrating crazily. Charles' hands clenched his chair and his eyes were a much darker blue color than when she first met him, almost black. She started to take a careful step into the room when she seemed to hit an invisible wall, forehead first, and she was blown back and suddenly had a splitting headache. She collapsed on the floor holding her head and screaming, tears running down her face. It felt like her the inside of her forehead and the backs of her eyes were being repeatedly hammered with ice-picks. Then suddenly just as fast as it had come it was gone. Slowly, weary that it might come back should she move, Ollie sat up looking at the doorway again, Erik and Charles were still engaged in and epic staring match.  
Metal bits were flying about the room seeming to magically miss Charles, though they were flying all around him. Charles opened his mouth and Ollie leaned forward not close enough to the door to be hurt, but just in case he spoke softly when he was mad. But even though his mouth moved, no sound came out. Confused Ollie looked at Erik. He was responding with large hand gestures as he appeared to speak loudly, but once again there was no sound she couldn't hear anything. Miffed she sat down and preceded to watch them give silent argument a new meaning when suddenly Erik did something exceedingly stupid. He took his helmet off, and threw it at Charles. "Ow."  
The barrier dropped, it was like there had been a high pitched ringing that she didn't notice until it was gone. She popped her ears. All the metal in the room dropped to the floor as Charles stared dumbfounded at the helmet on his lap, then looked up at Erik. Ollie stood up, walking wearily into the room she cleared her throat. Both Erik and Charles whipped their heads in her direction guiltily. Charles started to open his mouth but Ollie put up her hand "I only have one question; what. the hell. was that?"  
\----------------------------------------------*----------------------------------------------------  
_“Erik! You can’t leave me again!”_  
“Watch me! I’m not meant to be here I never was! The world isn’t a perfect little paradise Charles not everyone can do what you want all the time get your head out of the clouds!”  
“The humans have nothing to do with this place! Not even Moira remembers it!”  
“Oh it’s always about Moira isn’t it? How long has it been Charles? 15 years? You act like a smitten schoolboy”  
“And you and your helmet? Despite the fact that I have never made you do anything, you didn’t want to. I have not controlled you once, not even when I thought you were going to die, AND YOU STILL WEAR IT.”  
“SO?”  
“TAKE OFF THE HELMET.”  
“FINE!”  
\----------------------------------------------*----------------------------------------------------  
Charles swallowed Ollie could see the unease in his face he wasn't sure what to say to the pissed off teenager in front of him. He opened his mouth again but no sound came out. He cleared his throat. Ollie tapped her toes impatiently against the grey carpet, filled with little holes through which you could see the floor. Her grey clad arms were crossed, and damn she had a look on her face, and Charles could totally see how she was related to Erik “Um Ollie, how about you go unpack and we’ll be up there in a second.”  
“Oh hell no.” he was expecting that answer. “What was that? What was with the wall of headaches? Why couldn’t I hear you? Why-”  
“Ollie stop.”  
Her mouth closed, she frowned and crossed her arms indignantly. No matter how hard she tried her mouth wouldn’t open. Thinking as loud as she could she said; _YOU ARE THE RUDEST MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE I HAVE EVER MET._ She smiled victoriously when Charles flinched and put two fingers up to massage his temple.  
_Like I said before there is no need to shout. And watch your language, young lady, you are in my father’s house._  
_I can say whatever the fuck I want._ She shot back. _This is my mind._  
_No,_ said Charles. _technically this is a non inhabited mental link between you and me, that only exists on an imagined mental plane that isn't technically real because there is no way to scientifically measure it or take data from it._  
_*sigh*_  
_Did you just mentally communicate sigh in *'s instead of just sighing?_  
_Yes, yes I did._ Charles shook his head. He flicked his eyes in Erik’s direction, but Erik immediately growled. "Get out of my head Charles."  
Charles flinched. And if Ollie didn’t know better she would think she had seen a tear gathering in the corner of his eye. “Ollie.” he said “Why don’t you go find yourself something to eat?”  
“I’ll go too.” said Erik. Unfortunately since she couldn’t speak, Ollie couldn’t argue about this and was forced to walk out of the room and into the kitchen still muttering unflattering things about Charles in her mind.  
She yanked open the refrigerator, completely unconvinced she was going to find anything even remotely appetizing, but was surprised at the sight of all the food in this refrigerator. She picked up a root beer, turning it over in her hands. She wondered if American root beer tasted the same as Polish root beer. "It doesn't." said Erik, she turned quickly and glanced back at him. He wasn't looking at her he was perched on a stool at the counter twisting a fork through his fingers turning the metal liquid for the sake of his trick. "It doesn't taste the same. It’s more sugary here." Silently, Ollie put the bottle back in the fridge. Erik sighed. "I think you'll like it here," he said "lots of space. There’s a forest on the grounds."  
Ollie interrupted him with the low growl of; "I want to go back to the boys. Not to stay in this stupid mansion with your boyfriend." Erik froze. He stood up and walked out leaving the fork as a little pile of metal mush in the table. Evidently the word "boyfriend" had struck a cord in Erik. Ollie smiled viciously, maybe she could have some fun with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had these three written am I updating too fast?  
> Thanks for the comments and feedback! I have school now so I will be updating slower I have to go but I love you all!  
> -Anne


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Charles sat in his chair with his head in his hands. His bedroom hadn't changed much since his adolescence. With the big windows that showed the midnight blue country side around the house and the blue sheets that were just plain cotton. He had insisted having just regular blue sheets and a simple comforter. He could shove the masses of pillows his mother had put in there in his closet but he couldn't do anything about the king size mattress. Charles lifted his head to stare abysmally at the perfectly pressed sheets in the rosy light of the lamp. He groaned and put his head back in his hands. What had he been thinking? Letting Erik back into his house like this, letting him stay here like nothing had happened, letting himself hope for just a moment... Charles raised his head, looking furiously at the faded sky blue wallpaper, as if it caused all of his problems. It was fine, he was fine, he would be just fine. He would suffer silently and everything would be fine. He wheeled around to his closet and was contemplating how exactly he was going to get into his night clothes without help, when there was a sharp rap on his door, he knew who it was instantly without having to sense their mind. Only one person other than Raven, Hank, and himself knew where his room was and only one person knocked like that. "Come in-" he had to physically stop himself from adding ‘my friend’ to the end of the sentence. Old habits. The door opened and Erik stepped into the room. Charles didn't pretend to be surprised he just looked at him, suddenly realizing that this was the first time in a long time that he had seen Erik without his helmet on.  
He looked older, but that wasn’t a surprise, it had been over a decade since Charles the innocent 17 year old boy had met Erik Lehnsherr for the first time sharp grey eyes meeting his blue from across the room. It had been a long time since those games of chess that were a metaphor for life, a long time since they had been closer than brothers... closer than friends. It had been a long time since they had been this close period. Charles cleared his throat trying to ignore the memory of lying in Erik’s arms on that Godforsaken beach… “What do-” Erik stopped him with a hand  
“I…” he looked away then back to him, eyes steady on Charles’ despite Erik’s obvious discomfort. He closed his hand and put it down still trying to figure out what to say. "Um... can, can I just..." he cursed softly in German which struck Charles as slightly ironic. Charles raised an eyebrow still unsure as to whether or not to just pull what he wanted to say from his mind, but Erik saved him the trouble of the risking the fragile trust that was just beginning to form by using ASL and signing God, I just want to sit down. "Then sit" Charles said, Erik looked up, surprised. He moved around Charles' chair and sat on his bed, softly as though he expected it to creak under his weight and wanted to make as little noise as possible. He gave Charles a sideways look. "I’m sorry." he said quietly "I’m really truly sorry, Charles."  
"It’s okay-"  
"No, Charles," grey eyes met blue and Charles' felt the intensity with which Erik said his name. "It’s not okay. I left you. I fought you. I tried to kill your sister for God’s sake." he ran a hand through his hair, which oddly didn't mess it up at all. "I just," he grasped for words "I'm sorry, it will never be adequate, but I'm sorry."  
"Erik it’s okay," Charles insisted, sensing the hurt and pain in the man in front of him "I left you just as much as you left me. I gave up on everything when you-" he paused, "Were caught." he said delicately. "I just, my whole world dissolved and I let everything go to ruins. I didn't even try to contact you, despite the fact that you didn't have your helmet." Charles glanced sharply at Erik's face when he said this, the helmet was currently sitting in the cabinet of his bedside table on a pile of books. He was sure Erik could feel it but if so he didn't react. "I am just as much at fault as you."  
Erik sighed. There was a long moment of silence in which neither man looked at the other. Finally Charles broke the silence. Eyes still fixed on the blue wallpaper he asked quietly "Is she yours?"  
"Yeah, her mom is….” he swallowed and attempted to discreetly wipe his eye. “She’s gone. I didn’t even know Anya was alive until yesterday and she told me Magda…” he broke off. Charles felt a surge of emotion; pity and concern for his friend sadness at his loss, something that was just a hair to close to jealousy at the way he said his former wife’s name. Charles mentally smacked himself You have no right to feel this way this is his pain don't taint it with whatever this is.  
He studied Erik very carefully for a moment, and then slowly because he knew he hated pity he took his hand and placed it on Erik's. Erik flinched, he slowly turned his head in Charles' direction. His eyes didn't betray any feelings, but Charles could feel the anxiety rolling off him in waves. The next ten seconds were the most loaded moments of Charles' life, then he started to withdraw his hand quickly Erik rotated his hand grabbing Charles', and Charles felt his heart stop then speed up tenfold to compensate. He looked up at Erik but he must not have as good of a poker face because he could see Erik registering what must have been surprise on his face. Shit, he heard him think. did I interpret that wrong?  
No! Charles wanted to scream No you didn't! but he respected Erik's request to not communicate with him mentally, and said nothing. Damn, this was going to be hard. "Um Erik?" Erik's eyes snapped back up,  
"Yes?" Charles swallowed realizing that what he was about to as was a little weird but hopefully it would help dispel some of the tension "I um, I kinda need help with you know pajamas and...." Charles blushed. Damn it he didn't think it would be this awkward. Erik stood up.  
"Yeah yeah sure of course"  
"Sorry," Charles said self consciously blushing harder, and hating himself for it. God, why was he so awkward? Erik laughed, not the harsh angry thing that he had taken to calling his laugh, but a genuinely amused sound that reminded Charles of better times when he made stupid jokes and Erik actually laughed like that.  
"Sure professor," he said, his eyes sparking with mischief "I'll help the most powerful mutant in the world get dressed for bedtime. Do you want some warm milk too, Charlie?" Charles' face turned even redder if possible and Erik exploded into laughter tripping and falling backwards onto Charles' bed, wrinkling the once perfectly smooth fabric and of course this just made him laugh more. Charles managed to hold his angry look at being called "Charlie" for a few more seconds before dissolving into laughter himself.  
The two of them just sat there and laughed themselves out and then laughed a little more and maybe just a little more after that. Charles had forgotten how nice it felt to laugh this much. He should do it more often. He smiled contentedly and then started to giggle again at the sight of Erik wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his blue turtleneck. "No!" Erik put both his hands on Charles’ knees "No no no! Charles I just stopped-" but Charles was laughing full force once more. Suddenly with an extreme amount of willpower he forced himself to stop laughing. Trying to fight the huge grin that wanted to split on his face he took several deep breaths  
"Okay," he said "Stop laughing, no more laughing, get into bed now." he let out a big whoosh of air and closed his eyes, then snapped them back open. Suddenly he realized Erik's hands were still on his knees and his face was very very close to Charles'. Charles could see dark blue flecks in his grey eyes that he had never noticed before, had those always been there?  
His eyes flicked over Erik’s face, his cheekbones, his impeccable hair, his nose, his lips, his lips… then back up to eyes. Erik was still looking at him Charles held his gaze for a beat, then he blinked his mind coming back to reality what am I doing? He leaned back suddenly running a hand through his hair and fixing his gaze on the carpet. No, he thought that is your friend you don’t think about your friend like that. He cleared his throat and ran his tongue over his suddenly parched lips.  
He looked at Erik uncertainly, trying to gauge his emotions without using his powers. Suddenly a flurry of thoughts ran through Erik's mind, loud enough for Charles to listen to without feeling intrusive. Shit, shit, shit. Shit! Shit, why did I do that? Why am I still doing this? Is this okay? Is this allowed? Why am I doing this. Why am I touching him? Why do I always feel like I want to touch him? GOD! NOT THAT WAY! Why is he so Goddamn perfect? I’m not good for him, I’ll just mess this up, if he even means that! Since when have I...about... Why is my hand still on his knee? God, why did I move my hand? I’m way too close to him. Shit, SHIT. He sat back quickly running hand over his hair again. Charles was fairly certain that both of them were blushing furiously now. Erik cleared his throat "Um pajamas"  
"Yes!" said Charles latching onto the topic, relieved for something to talk about other than whatever that just was. "Pajamas." Erik stood quickly his manor all business again. He deftly moved around Charles and opened his closet door pulling out a pair of royal blue silk pj's, Charles' favorite, and held them up.  
"Um..." Erik asked tilting his head "How do we do this?"  
Eventually after a lot of experimenting, Erik held Charles in the air with a very flat, long piece of metal that used to be a cup, wrapped around his waist (Erik had assured Charles it could be returned to its original state) while Charles put his pants on. Erik looked respectfully away during this ordeal of sorts, but Charles was blushing madly anyway. God, since when did he blush this much? After Charles had been successfully dressed for, and put in bed, Erik left, turning the light off as he went, but not after offering one final jab from the doorway. "Goodnight Charlie." Charles made a face and Erik left laughing. Charles sighed, settling down into the blankets. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Then there was a sort of popping noise and all the metal in the room went still. He hadn't realized it, but all the metal in the room had been vibrating at such a high frequency that he didn't notice until it was gone. He laughed at that. Then suddenly he could once again sense all the minds outside the room again. Wait, mind. He scanned the house again. There was only one mind outside his room.  
"Erik!" he yelled then realizing Erik was out of earshot he, despite Erik's warning, broadcasted ERIK through his thoughts as loud as possible. He felt the panic in Erik's mind as he literally flew through the house to get to his room, bursting through the door panting, three small metal balls floating above his palm, instantly scanning the room for hostiles, before focusing on Charles "Charles, what is it?!"  
Charles' eyes were flicking around unfocused, his fingers to his temple as he scanned each room in the mansion. No, no, no, no, no, "Erik," he focused on him and a look of panic swept over his face.  
"Ollie isn't here".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay another chapter! I'm slow!  
> Thanks to all you guys who left kudos you are awesome <3 I love comments and reviews tell me how I can do better I will try to update again before Nov.  
> Love you!  
> -Annabanna


	5. Chapter 5

The door was unlocked. The fucking downstairs door was unlocked. Ollie shook her head in disbelief at the stupidity of the two. Did they honestly think she would stay here just because Erik brought her here? She had a family to take care of. She scowled, remembering Erik's face when he had first seen her; disbelief, anger, and panic, fighting for supremacy of his outward expressions. She remembered little C's face when he had heard she was leaving; the mixture of sadness , confusion and the acceptance of loss that had defined his short life "Is she coming back?" he had asked Eiric wide eyed, looking the most innocent that he probably ever had. Eiric was crying but he tried to keep it together  
"Probably not, little C." he signed "I'm sorry." Cezary had shorn his hair close to his head and a shocking vibrant green that her eyes supposedly looked like when she used her powers and was hiding under his bed refusing to come out despite risking the wrath of The Devil.  
"I don't want you to go" he had said. "Being adopted is stupid." Just before she left she pulled all the boys into a group hug upstairs, trying to control the tears streaming down her face.  
"I'll come back." she promised "I will come back. I promise" She let them out of the hug, little C was still holding onto her leg crying. She bent down to pick him up, he was lighter than air as always and she held him to her chest and rocked him back and forth. “Shh.” she whispered “It’s okay, it’s okay.” she kissed his forehead and brushed his blond hair our of his eyes. He wrapped his legs around hr waist and clutched her shirt as he quietly sobbed into it. Her arms wrapped around him as her face hardened resolutely, she decided she would not leave them. Never, never. But if she had to go on this ridiculous jaunt to America, she wasn't going to leave them unprotected. Calling Peregrine she said; I need you to protect my family. If I must leave they will have no one on their side but you. Will you help me? From her perch across town Peregrine raised her head proudly.  
I will do everything in my power to keep them safe. Ollie sighed in relief, clutching little C to her as tightly as she could.  
“SKYLAR OLIVIA CAYDEN GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!” All three boys flinched at the scream from The Devil in the house below. Peregrine alighted on the lattice outside and Ollie addressed all three boys.  
"This is Peregrine" she said "She will watch you and I can speak to her so I will always be with you." gently, she pried little C off her and placed him in big his brother's arms. Where he curled into Eiric and began to cry again, then she kissed each of them on the cheek whispering in Eiric’s ear “Keep them safe Peregrine can only do so much.” His eyes hardened he nodded resolutely.  
“SKYLAR, YOU BITCH!” they all flinched this time.  
“COMING!” she yelled down.  
“YOU SURE AS HELL BETTER BE!” came the reply she turned to the three weepy boys before her.  
"Goodbye, I love you."

 

Ollie shook herself out of the daydream. The forest around her was awash in silvery moonlight, accentuating every bump and curve in the trees. She had been trekking through the forest for about an hour now, and she had formulated a plan. So far, neither Erik or Charles had noticed her absence but she new it was only a matter of time. She had gotten directions to the nearest gas station from a passing crow and she planned to hike there, steal some money and a car, and drive to an airport. Then she would fly to Poland, rescue her brothers and make it out safely without being caught by the police. She grimaced at the stupidity of her own plan but it was all she had to go on. She was cold, her feet were tired, and her stomach was growling with hunger. She hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday because she had refused to eat the vegetarian burger that Erik had bought her. Her stomach rumbled again. She was regretting that decision now. She sighed, she had borrowed an owl's vision so that she could navigate the forest in the near darkness and the constant connectivity was draining her, but she pressed on. _One more mile to the gas station._ She assured herself. _Then I get a car and get the hell out of here. Then I can sleep._ She had just hardened her resolve enough to pick up her pace a little in anticipation of food and warmth at the gas station when there was a rustle in the leaves behind her. Instinctively she grabbed senses from the animals around her, a foxes sense of hearing, a wolf's sense of smell. She scanned her surroundings for hostiles but she saw nothing and all she could smell was frightened rabbit. She let the senses go and relaxed a bit, she was too jumpy. Jeez. Just as she turned around to start walking again, Erik descended from the trees.  
\--------------------------------------------------*-----------------------------------------------  
Charles' arms were crossed and the scowl on his face was radiating anger. It didn't help that he was wearing blue pajamas and his hair was sticking up at odd angles. After being dragged back to the mansion Ollie had been frozen in place by Charles, while Erik went off to do something and came back with Charles in tow. It seemed like they had been having an intense mental conversation that consisted mostly of _You bastard._ and _I'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry! _Ollie's lips tilted unwillingly upwards at the memory, but then she remembered where she was and schooled her expression crossing her arms and doing her best to imitate Charles.__  
"What exactly," Charles started in a calm voice that was cold as ice, "were you thinking? Just going to up and leave without telling either of us? Where were you going to go? You have been here for one day you have no connections you don't know the area this whole excursion was stupid." Ollie's face reddened as he confirmed everything she had been thinking about the escape but she wasn't going down without a fight.  
"I was thinking," she glared at him defiantly. "that I have a family to go back to and protect. Unlike the two of you." Instantly she regretted saying that. Both men scowled and she could tell she had struck a nerve.  
"Anya." She flinched at the mention of her real name. Erik's voice was tight.  
"That’s not my name." she said defiantly. Erik ignored her.  
"You are my daughter. You are my only family-" he swallowed and she could hear the raw pain in his voice. She glanced sideways at Charles who was watching Erik carefully, with (she noted) just a bit of his own sadness hidden behind his eyes. "If I lost you again-" he sighed "You can’t go back to Poland alone. I will go with you but we don’t have the money to fly right now much less the money to adopt three mutant boys. You will just have to wait." Ollie scowled at the idea of the boys being alone for one more second.  
"Fine. But promise me one thing."  
"What?"  
"Never call me Anya again."  
Erik started to open his mouth but Charles interrupted him “and as punishment,” Charles smiled and Ollie backed up subconsciously. That was an evil smile if she had ever seen one and not the sugarcoated evil smiles that The Devil had used. No, this was a perfect smile teeth showing and reaching his eyes but damn, it was evil. Ollie swallowed. Charles continued "You get to wash every window in this mansion." the evil glinted in his eyes "Twice."  
"Twic-!" I stopped. Charles' smile turned triumphant. I finished furiously in my mind; _Do I look like Cinderella to you? Besides, who washes windows twice anyway? They're already clean._ "The idea," said Charles. "Being that by the time you get done the windows will be dirty again."  
Ollie wanted to dramatically fall to her knees and scream; _“Noooooooooooooo!!!!!”_ but all Charles would let her do was say tightly “Yes, sir.” and walk stiffly out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! a chapter!!!!!!! sorry i'm late but at least its only like 9 days late  
> anyway yay for Charles being evil and I love you all   
> -Anne


	6. Chapter 6

Erik woke up. That just happens sometimes, he doesn't dream he just goes to sleep and then he wakes up. Erik sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked around, not remembering where he was for a moment and then he remembered he was in the mansion. Charles' manson. Charles. His eyes and his voice and how he felt in Erik's mind. Erik flopped over and moaned putting his hands over his face. Jesus, he was a grown man, he had a daughter for gods sakes! And here he was crushing like a schoolgirl. No. These "feelings had been buried in the sand on that beach in Cuba. Erik sat up again. One thing was for certain, Charles was not going to keep him in bed. He pushed those thoughts to the dark recessed corners of the part of his mind that he saved for Charles (God even that sounded sappy), Erik winced as he stood.   
He threw on some clothes and after pausing in front of the mirror for a moment to run a brush through his hair, he left his room. As Erik started down the hallway he got the strange feeling that he'd forgotten something. He paused, thinking. _What could- oh._ Realization dawned in Erik's eyes, Charles still had the helmet. And this was the first time in ten years he had had it off for any extended period of time. Ghosting a hand over his hair, Erik shivered. _Well great, now I feel naked._ He started down the hall again towards the kitchen an old habit kicking into place from his days at the mansion before Cuba... Erik reached the kitchen surprised to find Charles already up and with a pot of tea going despite the fact that he despised mornings (really Erik did too but he had gotten used to being up early).  
Erik leaned against the door frame taking this moment to study him. Charles had, somehow, gotten dressed in his usual professoryness but for the fluffy blue and brown sweater he had donned, presumably to block out the slight chill of the September morning despite the warmth of yesterday. Erik had never really minded the cold, it helped him sleep better and to focus but he suddenly found himself feeling absurdly cheerful for the cold at that moment. Damn Charles was-   
"Good morning Erik." came Charles' crisp English accent from across the kitchen without turning around to see him. Erik mentally kicked himself _You're not wearing the helmet stupid, you can't just think things like that._  
"Good morning Charles." He pushed away from the door frame and sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen tipping the stool back farther than should have been possible without falling over, but not for him. Charles was adding honey to a teacup. He still hadn’t looked at Erik.   
"How are you?"   
"Fine" Erik responded automatically as Charles finally turned to face him, still without meeting his eyes, and placed a steaming cup in front of him. Erik picked it up and took a sip without thinking. He realized that Charles had remembered Erik’s favorite kind of tea, how he liked it made, and though he made no comment, he was touched. He took another sip thoughtfully and said “How um… How are you Charles?” Charles looked up from his tea with raised eyebrows  
“Fine.” he said slowly as if his words were a gun loaded with plastic bullets and at any moment something he said might accidentally pull the trigger. Erik sat back suddenly at a loss for something to say,   
“Good, good that’s…” he swallowed “That’s good” Erik looked down, damning himself for being so awkward  
“Hey,” Charles said turning his chair around to go put his cup in the sink. “I have to go make a supplies run today. I ah… wasn’t expecting guests.” Erik nodded, a bit too enthusiastically despite the fact that Charles couldn’t see him.   
“Yeah, yeah, sure, that’s cool, that’s, cool” He said, feeling like a complete idiot. _Why are you acting like this?_ “I um,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly “I’ll just start Ollie on the windows then?” Charles laughed, turning back around from the sink and drying his hands on a towel. Erik liked his laugh.   
“You know when I said that,” He started his Photoshop blue eyes sparkling with humor. “I was just kidding right?” Erik mentally face palmed. Of course he had been joking, Charles didn't randomly tell people to wash all of the windows twice, he wasn’t that kind of person. Charles laughed again and Erik could feel his face heating up. _Emotions, now is not the time to betray me._ He attempted to school his features as Charles said “Unless of course, you actually want that to be her punishment?” Erik thought for a moment. Why not? She was expecting it and it was as good a punishment as any.   
“Okay.” he said clapping his hands together in an “its settled” kind of way. “Why not?”

\--------------------------------------------------*-----------------------------------------------

Erik took a sip of his beer and shook his head. Hank would never cease to amaze him. He had made a fucking car that could be driven with Charles’ _mind._ He sighed reclining into what had been his favorite chair back when he had been a constant occupant of the mansion. Erik’s face darkened. Charles had left after lunch so Erik had been left alone with his thoughts. Which, he mused, probably wasn’t a good thing. His thoughts tended to be dangerous when left to grow, always slipping towards the darker side of his mind that he tended to try and avoid. The kinds of thoughts that brought out his worst mistakes and greatest grievances. Against his friends, against his "family,” against Charles... His thoughts leaned towards the time he had spent here when, even though they had really been training for a battle against themselves and they were about to confront the man Erik hated most in the world, he had been happy here during those two short weeks.   
_"Try turning that," said Charles pointing at the huge satellite dish he had pushed Sean off earlier. "to face us." Erik was slightly taken aback, he hadn't tried something that big since the submarine when he first met Charles. He walked over to the low stone wall at the edge of the path, glancing back at Charles briefly for confirmation. Charles nodded encouragingly. Erik took a deep breath, steeling himself and then threw out his hands, fingers splayed towards the dish. He could feel the metal in his mind just a faint tingle because of the distance and he tried to concentrate on that signal to make it stronger. He strained his mind trying to think of infuriating things. Shaw, Emma, the Nazis, but nothing seemed to work because all he could feel was Charles' presence behind him. Though not terribly close to him, Charles radiated a kind of calm reassurance, it was like an aura that followed him around and Erik just couldn't get mad in his vicinity. He dropped his hands panting and leaning down to brace his arms against the top of the wall feeling a little knot in his stomach as he recognized his failure. "I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage, and serenity." mused Charles from behind him. Erik turned to look at him standing there, clad in his usual dark polo and grey suit jacket hair done perfectly as Erik's, electric blue eyes cloudy and red lips pursed in thought. But when had he started noticing Charles' lips or his eyes or his hair...  
Charles raised two fingers towards his temple. "Would you mind? If I..." he wiggled his fingers trailing off. Erik gave his consent with and imperceptible nod and the thought, yes. Charles raised his hand to his temple closing his eyes for a moment before opening them quite suddenly and blinking as if he weren't used to what he in from Erik's mind. Erik saw Charles' eyes narrow and then his vision went hazy as if he had steamed up the glass on the world. Then he saw his mother. She was lighting menorah candles. It was their last Hanuka as a family. Erik felt tears gathering in his eyes as she reached out to stroke his face, but then it ended and the memory faded. Erik was quiet. He didn't quite know when Charles had closed his eyes again but when he could see clearly again Charles was opening them blue eyes hard and bright from tears. He wiped one off his cheek with his thumb as his eyes found Erik's. Erik swallowed hard.   
"What... what did you just do to me?" he asked in a low voice to keep it from breaking. Charles walked over to his side at the wall leaning on it as though casually but Erik could see it was keeping him upright.   
"I accessed the brightest corner of your memory system." he said and his exhaustion was even more apparent in his voice. It filled every word he said with a kind of melancholy aftertaste "It was a very beautiful memory Erik, thank you." Erik nodded. His system still felt shocked as the memory flashed again in his head making him feel warm and sad.   
"I uh, " he struggled to keep his voice even, trying for a smile that came out half hearted "I didn't know I still had that." Charles smiled his red lips curling up into the proud dreamy kind of smile that only people who really love you get. No wait don't think "love" and "Charles" in the same sentence.   
"There is so much more to you than you know," he said softly. “not just pain and anger, there's good too. I felt it." He sounded like he truly believed that Erik was a good man, like he wanted Erik to believe that too. Charles leaned in as if sharing a secret. "When you can access all of that, you'll possess a power no one can match. Not even me." Erik nodded imperceptibly rolling this information over in his mind, then moving his eyes back up to Charles and their noses almost collided.  
Erik's eyes darted to Charles' impossibly red lips for a fraction of a second then back up to his eyes. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity wrapped up in a few seconds. Erik could feel Charles' breath on his face and he smelled like peppermint tea. His mind teetered on the edge of just closing the space and kissing the stupid bastard already when Charles suddenly cleared his throat and stepped backwards giving Erik a shaky smile and clapping him on the shoulder. "So come on," he said voice confident despite the smile. "Try again."   
Erik dipped his head trying to erase the confusion of feelings from his face as he turned to face the dish again. He concentrated reaching out for the metal again this time with the full force of that memory and the memory of Charles' closeness, the almost kiss. or whatever that was a second ago, driving him forwards making him determined. Positive that he would reach the dish. Erik felt a tear drip down his face but he couldn't care less because the dish has started to move. With a great screeching groan, the huge piece of metal turned itself to face them. Erik laughed in pure surprise then in joy as he realized what he had done. He did it! Erik laughed leaning down to brace his elbows on the wall again as Charles patted him on the back smiling wide and proud.   
Erik looked up at him happily, he was just happy to be here. Happy to have found these people, happy to be accepted and not alone, happy to have Charles for his friend. He was just about to say something meaningful and just a teeny bit sappy when there was a call of; "Guys, the president is making his address!" from the window. It was Moura, of course it was Moura, he thought (not a bit bitterly) as they jogged up to the living room. But soon those thoughts had soon been chased out of his head by Shaw and the Russians. Erik never saw Charles that happy again. _  
Erik took another sip of his warming beer as the memory left him. He reclined in the chair with a sigh wondering if he would ever see Charles smile like that again. He certainly hadn't been doing a lot of smiling lately, but maybe that was because of his presence. That would explain why he never saw him smile.... Erik shook his head. What am I doing? he asked himself, Sitting here reliving old memories and pondering Charles Xavier's smiles? I might as well be a 13 year old girl in middle school. He stood up abruptly and stretched. Relaxing he lifted his beer to eye level and swirled it around. It was warm. He set it on the table and moved to go to the kitchen and get a new one when he stopped abruptly. Something was off. He waited trying to put his finger on what had set him off the he realized. _Ollie is being way too quiet._ He raced upstairs and started yanking open doors trying to find her. _Shit if she’s gone again!_ He thought. _And I don’t have Charles to pinpoint her this time._ He busted through the last door on the hall (with no faith that she would actually be in there whatsoever but Erik Lehnsherr was nothing if not methodical) and there she was, lounging in a recliner chair covered in a sheet, listening to really loud music Erik identified as AC DC, and eating peanuts. She looked up lazily as he burst in breathing hard and said, "Hey." before going back to her peanuts.   
Then Erik noticed the squirrels.   
Somehow his daughter had managed to recruit some poor squirrels to wash the windows for her. "ANYA GRACE LEHNSHERR!" he bellowed completely forgetting he had kind of promised not to call her that. he took a deep breath so that the nails in the floor and walls didn’t suddenly decide to rip themselves out and faced her cool mask of teenage indifference. "What, Exactly Do You Think You're Doing?" he asked her voice tight. Their faces were the same. Cold mask matched cold mask as they stared at each other and anyone who saw them could see they were related.   
"I was doing my 'punishment chore.'" she gestured at the windows. "See?" Erik sighed.  
"I see a squirrel with a wash rag," he said  
“Oh… Um… he offered to help.”  
“Of course he did.” Erik face palmed mentally He looked around the room as though looking for someone other than Ollie to share his frustration with. His eyes snapped back to her suddenly. "The idea of the chore was that you were to clean the windows." he said. Dangerously quiet. Ollie shrugged.  
"He offered to-"  
"Then you should have declined." Erik's voice was still quiet. "When Charles gets back we are having a word, understand?" He turned to the squirrel, opened the window, took its washrag and gestured for it to go. It ran outside with a grateful chitter. Erik turned and gave Ollie a meaningful look but she quickly picked up a sponge and pretended to be busy. He sighed and went back downstairs, turning on the television with a flick of his hand. The news came on blaringly loud with news about some 5 year old who blew up two blocks of apartment buildings after falling on the pavement and scraping her knee. Erik turned it off again in disgust. He turned into the kitchen to grab (more like summon) another beer from the icebox. It flew into his hand and he discarded to bottle cap easily but as soon as he did so beer foamed up and sprayed everywhere like shaken soda in a punctured bottle. "Aaah!" the cap flattened encasing the beer bottle in a metal casket and stopping the spray but the damage had been done. The once sparkling kitchen was dripping with beer and Erik knew the smell would never quite dissipate. Another sigh escaped his lips as he sat down heavily on a kitchen stool. A bang of something heavy falling over upstairs shook the ceiling and a string of polish curses floated down the stairs. A third sigh was freed. It was going to be a long day.


End file.
